<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Galaxy of Glass by masecertifiedcryptid</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29751141">Galaxy of Glass</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/masecertifiedcryptid/pseuds/masecertifiedcryptid'>masecertifiedcryptid</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Treasure Planet (2002)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Academy, Action/Adventure, Adventure, Alien Technology, Aliens, Gen, My First AO3 Post, Pirates, Science Fiction, Series, Space Flight, Space Pirates, Unofficial Sequel, intergalactic travel</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 22:39:32</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>14,715</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29751141</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/masecertifiedcryptid/pseuds/masecertifiedcryptid</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Jim’s life has turned around, now with a vast expanse of better possibilities. That's until a chance encounter sweeps him back into the Etherium, where he’s caught in the center of an escalating war, in search of a priceless energy source that could revolutionize intergalactic travel. Perhaps it’s not wrong to rely on an old friend when Jim discovers a link that puts him in more danger than he anticipated.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>14</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Without delay, destitute of the deft precision needed to survive, everything could immediately end. Jim kept his finger on the trigger, eyes blurred and dizzy from the chase, now latched onto any change in the moving shadows across the compact dirt ground, despite the layer of fog cast over it. Between intervals of catching his breath to apprehensively holding it, he listened for movement; the rustling of clothes, for hard boots to scuff against a bare tree root, anything that would indicate his opponent.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jim kept his back pressed up against coarse bark that faintly clawed the skin under his thin linen shirt. Sweat streamed down his forehead, unforgivingly warm, and dangerously close to his eyes. He gained enough control over his breathing, just as his pulse went from pounding to lightly fluttering, and finally, he heard something that wasn’t him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A boot drove down, shuffling against the ground at an immeasurable distance from him, but close enough that any attack would be merciless.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He held up the laser pistol, finger trembling over the trigger, and peeked around his shielding tree.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The clearing remained as lifeless as it had been for the last several minutes, those footsteps were replaced by a harsh gust of wind that weaved through the towering pine trees, its seemingly peaceful harmony unfortunately foreboding. Jim swallowed back the dryness in his mouth, in another attempt to keep quiet, fixed on whatever racket presented itself in this natural arena. Aside from the wind steadily picking up, or the chatter of avian alien creatures nested in the canopy of the trees, every other significant noise promptly retreated.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jim ventured further from the tree trunk, wary of his footing, as he maintained enough control to keep the pistol in his hand. He blinked a few times, enough to get the blurriness out of his eyes, and once they refocused, nothing stood out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A twig snapped from behind him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jim spun around, and instinctually, if not miraculously, ducked down, before a bright ray of light shot over his head, barely grazing him. He looked back for his opponent, who had been obscured as a silhouette against the blaring light that passed through the trees, standing braced, ready, their weapon clasped in both hands.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Despite his head racing with thoughts, he took his finger off the trigger and darted behind that same tree trunk. Just as he pulled himself completely behind the wooden fortress, another beam blasted to his side, before it dissipated within the dense fog.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jim dropped down, low enough to be engulfed in the thickening mist, yet he kept his feet planted on the ground, set to launch forward. The footsteps got closer, then further, and returned, at a desperate pace. The opponent darted back into view, both hands still clung to their pistol and looked about, while not erratically, definitely wary.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>With all that he could, Jim unsteadily held up his pistol, the figure of his foe in perfect aim, placed his finger back on the trigger, and pulled it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The laser catapulted ahead, yet his surroundings seemed to slow down at that moment, victory was so close, within undoubtedly reach. Jim breathed out as his chest pounded, this time not from the debilitating dread that held him to that post earlier. The fight would be over, this was the end, it had to be.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But his rival dipped out of the way, and the laser lodged itself into a nearby tree instead.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The opponent spun around and charged ahead at full speed. Jim leaped up, but just as he, too, bolstered himself to run, he felt something warm graze his shoulder, and he backed into the nearest tree.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A pair of lean, muscular arms projected from the fog, an unwelcome, volatile omen. Jim made another dodge before they could wrap around him, but something hard hit him in the wrist. His pistol flew out of his hand to land more than an arm’s length away. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jim got on the ground and surveyed whatever there was around him. A large, sturdy branch lay in reach. As a pair of hands hurdled towards him, he snatched it up and held it forward, pressing it against another body, only for those hands to grasp to the branch as well. There was a struggle and the other side was winning. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>One push away from getting pinned to the tree, Jim kicked into the other body. He didn’t stick around as the opponent wheezed and coughed, gladly so as soon as he heard them bolt ahead. He scrambled for the pistol, vision barred by a rush of adrenaline, but just as he got a hold of it, something hard slammed into his back. He tumbled down, clasping his only defense tighter, as he let momentum guide him to roll onto his back, firmly bringing up that singular defense. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>His opponent, his classmate, Kate Blake, stared down at him with her piercing orange eyes. In defiance of the grit on her dirtied clothing, her pinned back fiery red hair astoundingly held itself together, barely loose from their brawl. Her eyebrows furrowed and she snarled, revealing sharp canine teeth, as she, too, held her weapon to him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You think you're smart, don’t you?” she growled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mm, yeah,” Jim replied as a snide smirk crossed his face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kate’s scowl hardened.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re a terrible comedian, I’ll give you that,” she added.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jim rolled his eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thanks for the compliment.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s a </span>
  <em>
    <span>pleasure</span>
  </em>
  <span>, trust me.” Kate’s voice completely saturated itself in bitter vinegar as she held the pistol closer.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jim looked to her weapon, then his.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You know I can just end this now, right?” he asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kate’s glare hardened. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And you think I wouldn’t end it myself?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Heat rose in Jim’s face, unlike the heat from the persistent running, the ongoing exhaustion, this heat rose drastically, all at once, and he felt every muscle in his body tense.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Then why don’t you?” he snapped.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A blaring low ring ripped through the trees before either of them could pull themselves out of their unending deadlock. They kept their eyes on each other, unphased by multiple frantic footsteps led by a heavier, more imposing pair.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What was that?” a gruff, deep voice demanded.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jim’s gaze shot in the direction of the voice. A rocklike alien man in a neat, blue uniform towered over both teenagers with a coarsened glare.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The pair dropped their weapons. Kate shot a begrudging glance down at Jim as she held out her hand, only for him to brush it away and get up by himself. The unnerving, deeply irate stare of the uniformed man didn’t leave them, if not, it was fueled even hotter.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I repeat, what </span>
  <em>
    <span>was</span>
  </em>
  <span> that?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kate straightened herself out with a trim tug at her collar.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It was a messy melee fight that ended in no resolution, Commander Duchamp.” Her tone was flat, yet she held her head high.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Correct, Miss Blake,” Duchamp said. “I’ll at least give you the credit for knowing your mistakes. As for you,” he redirected his attention to Jim. “What’s your reasoning?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How else were we supposed to end that, Commander?” Jim asked, on the edge of losing it, but still clinging onto whatever fragment of etiquette he had left in him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Sometimes you have to make a sacrifice,” Duchamp explained.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So we were both supposed to lose?” Jim probed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Duchamp firmly nodded.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Exactly. Good to see you’re finally listening to your superior officers.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The commanding officer turned the audience of intergalactic youths, their appearances spanning across several species, some who looked like Jim, others like their craggy officer, a few with scales, and a collective group with extra limbs, each of them fellow teenagers. They, too, had filthied their clothing, in their previous attempts at the same exercise.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Duchamp held his hand out, for both Jim and Kate to pick up their decoy pistols and pass them to him. Their commanding officer turned to the rest of the group.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Now, let this be a lesson, cadets. While both of your peers are skilled, this </span>
  <em>
    <span>isn't</span>
  </em>
  <span> a part of the exercise. Sure, these futzy devices may look intimidating now, but the real deal is </span>
  <em>
    <span>nothing</span>
  </em>
  <span> compared to these fakes. Furthermore,” he paused as his scrutiny completely settled on Jim. “If you can’t follow basic protocol, you’re condemned to failure from the moment you set foot in the Etherium. Understood?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The students chimed back a unanimous, “Yes, sir.” before Duchamp nodded solemnly to his students. Kate returned the gesture, almost by instinct, while it took Jim a moment to register it. Duchamp approached the sea of spectating students, and then into the mist, the student audience following the pursuit. On the fringe of his vision, Jim noticed those orange eyes, kindled with that same look she gave him during their training, before she moved past him, trailing behind their class. Jim ran a hand through his sweat-drenched hair as he lingered in the back of the group, far enough away from Kate as he could be.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The group collectively approached an oddly welcoming, yet elegant structure in the middle of the woodland. On the side of the building, labeled on a modest door, an engraved sign allotted the building a number and title, some honorary name from a legendary general from centuries past. Jim caught the door just as it swung closed behind the last student to enter, and he trudged in. The energizing stimulation that kept him cognizant for the duration of the training gradually dwindled, replaced with a throbbing ache all over his body. He tracked up the stairs, his joints creaking with each step, to eventually make it to the showers. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>While there were a few peers in there, cleaning off the day’s worth of grime, he headed for a more secluded stall and turned on the typically cold water as warm as it could go. It was short-lived, the savory warmth of hot water, and once it completely went away, he shut it off, covered up in something clean, and wandered down the hall to a door at the other end of the building.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jim scrubbed his damp towel into the side of his head, the inevitable ache remedied for the time being. He pulled it back as he closed the door behind him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, you okay? You looked kind of rough.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jim’s attention averted to the broad-shouldered, young alien man with curly light hair, a rugged nose, and watchful eyes, who stood out within the oddly small room, a pen drenched in ink in one hand, several papers scrawled with medical terms strewn across a messy desk, and a textbook laid out beside the papers. Gerard Winthrop tended to be more attentive whenever Jim would return to their room, regardless of how deep he’d been in his studies. A faint smile crossed Jim’s face as he folded up the towel in his hand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, got my ass kicked,” Jim answered. “Nothing new.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Was it Duchamp?” Gerard asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jim huffed out a half-hearted chuckle and responded, “Worse.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gerard’s face, previously unassuming, if not somewhat bright, fell.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Kate? Again?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jim dropped his towel onto the side of his metal bed frame and apathetically shrugged.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Who else would take an opportunity to kick me in the ribs,” he laughed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Suddenly sparked by the new information, Gerard launched from his seat, but Jim threw his hands up before he could pick a clean shirt from the chest at the end of his bed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Gerard, it’s okay, I’m fine,” he said as he let go of the chest’s lid. “At worst, I’ll just have some bruises.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gerard bobbed his head, his hands up as well, and he sank back into his chair. Jim glanced back at him, clutching a pile of clean clothes in his arms, and gestured to him, which prompted the other teen to swivel around in his seat, some semblance of privacy.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Then, please, do me a favor and tell me if it’s worse than a bruise this time. Okay?” Gerard asked, still facing the opposite wall.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Still wrestling with a pair of trousers, Jim replied, “Yeah, I’ll do that this time.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It didn’t take him long to get everything else on, but once he was completely redressed, Jim knocked on the wall to his side.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You can look now.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gerard turned back around, only to see Jim reaching for a grungy, dark jacket that hung beside their uniforms.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Jim?” Gerard sighed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After he got the jacket on, Jim knelt on the floor and pulled a pair of worn-out boots towards him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I thought you still wanted to go to the abandoned pier,” he said. “Would give you a break from whatever you’re doing.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you sure? As you put it, you got your ass kicked today.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jim smiled in response as he pulled on his second boot.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So? That’s every day for me at this point.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gerard looked as if he were ready to say something, yet he clamped his mouth shut, glanced aside briefly, and paused. His eyebrows twitched, and the cogs in his head were working hard to come up with a response. Instead, he gingerly set his pen aside, got up from his desk, and approached the coat hanger as well. Jim rose to his feet as Gerard weaved his arms through the sleeves of his long, casual coat.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You remember the path?” Gerard said as he straightened out his coat.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jim pulled open the creaky door and held it open.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Always.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The boys didn’t hesitate to leave their room, which after they locked the door, they followed the worn, yet surprisingly vibrant red rug from their room to the stairwell. Upon descending a few flights of stairs, they passed through the last door, finally met by crisp wind. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The trees faded in and out from the impenetrable fog, heavier than it was nearly an hour ago, and it dampened the air enough that a light shower wasn’t too far out of the question. Jim recalled the landmarks, how far the main path would go beyond the perimeter of campus, deeper into the forested thicket of the solitary landmass that housed their academic grounds. The main path delved further into the boundless forest, like a road to nowhere.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Not far from the main path, a lightly padded trail weaved into the overgrown forest. Jim led, familiar enough with his surroundings that he easily dodged thick branches and caught his footing quickly, while Gerard strayed not far behind him, more cautious of his foothold, wary of any unearthed roots. Every couple of steps, Jim would stop, look back, and wait for his friend to catch up, before he’d continue their descent, further from civilization.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Within a few minutes, they stumbled out of the thicket, met by a large, winding coast, dusted with white sand that was eventually interrupted by the rocky, sharp drop off the edge of the landmass, into the depths of the Etherium. Several abandoned docks, feebly propped up by aged, rotting wood, protruded from the coastline, reminders of the crucial purpose they held decades ago. Rocky crags hovered overhead, typical of this landmass on every edge of it, some of them peppered with evergreen-like trees, and one, in particular, remained as the final resting place for a rickety shack. Gerard passed beside Jim, agape at the scene.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I dunno what it is, but this place just feels like something. You know?” Gerard’s voice was low as if he maybe didn’t want Jim to hear his comments.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, it’s nice,” Jim added, just as mesmerized by the complete lack of civilized activity in the area.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gerard, his attention completely locked to the scene, hardly dipped his head. Jim huffed out a laugh as he swung around him and shoved his hands in his pockets.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“There’s gotta be some decent shit around here,” he said.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gerard snapped out of it and asked, “What’re you thinking? Old gears, or maybe more rusty pipes?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jim calmly pivoted around as he stepped back, and let out a slightly smug, “Definitely pipes, maybe </span>
  <em>
    <span>something</span>
  </em>
  <span> interesting.” He spun around and launched into a sprint.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The first area he knew to check was a small cove nestled between a large crevice, which was filled with rocks and fallen timber, and close enough that the large mass was in view, yet far away that he wouldn’t know if there was anything noteworthy unless he’d dig through the piles of natural debris. Every few strides, he’d glance behind him, and Gerard wouldn’t be too far behind. They made it to the pile, Jim was remarkably not worn out, but when Gerard stopped not far behind, he hunched over, gasping for air.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know how you do it, Jim,” he heaved. Before Jim could inquire, Gerard interjected with a laugh, “I’m fine, just haven’t done the same physical training that you have, that’s all.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jim got to his knees, instantly surveying anything discolored or lustrous caught between the dark matte rocks and damp driftwood. He dug through at the sight of something somewhat red and gritty, which unsurprisingly surfaced as yet a rusty pipe, like the dozens of others they’d collected over the last several weeks.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He dug through in a different spot, then another mostly met with more pipes and broken gears, or small pieces of machinery that had partially eroded due to the ruthless elements. Nothing looked worthy of keeping at this point, but Jim dug a little more into the mound until he noticed a subtle glimmer between a pair of rocks.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>From between the rocks, Jim wrenched out a gear, barely touched by the unforgiving weather, if not ruined at all. Unlike the other metallic gears he'd found previously, this one was hardly scraped, aside from a part of the cogs being melted nearly smooth. Jim held it closer to his eyes and ran his thumb along with the stunning damage on the device, and then to the delicately carved insignia, accompanied by clearly ingrained letters. Gerard leaned in closer, just as captivated.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“That’s so…” his voice trailed off.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But Jim interjected, “Yeah, it looks almost...new.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It can’t be, it must be an alloy or something that keeps it in that good of condition,” Gerard said.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jim shook his head as he held the gadget closer to Gerard. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Maybe, but you see this?” he asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gerard squinted. He rotated it about in his hand, checking each side of it, until his attention honed in on the lettering.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Cepheus Innovations and Parts.” he read aloud. Gerard’s brow creased and he looked closer at the markings. “Cepheus is a company, isn’t it?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jim nodded.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, they make a lot of the machines they use in the mines on Montressor, if not all of them,” he explained.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gerard pressed his lips, looked to the side, and then back at Jim.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay, I don’t see what you’re getting at.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Cepheus started up four years ago,” he said.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gerard clicked his tongue, his mental cogs at work, but that abruptly slowed down as well.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, and everything else we found, it’s often from at least sixty years ago.” Gerard elaborated.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Exactly,” Jim got up as the pieces came together in his head. “And this, whatever it is, it’s made the gear useless. Like you see this,” he pointed to the melted side. “Something melted it. Which means something hot, something that works.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jim chased down the next assortment of materials, the majority of them brandishing the same type of damage, but just as new and unscathed by the hellish weather conditions. He let his vision drift up, in the direction of the large crevice.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>On top of the rock heap, deeper into the cranny, a beaten, half-burnt longboat rested, its solar sail danced in what little wind forced its way into the shallow ravine. Jim stood paralyzed as a few fresh sparks crackled from the smashed engine. He heard Gerard climbing over the rocks and driftwood, only for him to stop immediately behind him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Jim, what the hell is that?” he mumbled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jim couldn’t get the words out. It </span>
  <em>
    <span>had</span>
  </em>
  <span> to be engineering students getting inebriated at late hours and keeping their property damage hushed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Yet that longboat, it didn’t look like any of the vessels utilized at the academy, not for the secondary students, the university level students, not even the vessels sailed by instructors. I was shoddily pieced together, with stray rivets barely holding it together and old wood hastily tossed on, a shocking contrast to the brand new engine attached to the derelict craft.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gerard took Jim by the shoulder and said, “I know this looks bad, but couldn’t it just be somebody on campus who just didn’t want to get caught?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jim glanced between his roommate, the wreck, and the metal piece still clasped in Gerard’s hand. When he returned his focus to the wreck, something danced in the foggy, a flag of some sort. However, it wasn’t bright, as the Imperial flag would fly in a heavy fog, it was dark, almost black against its natural veil.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Shit…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Jim, what’re you—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jim slowly backed up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We need to go.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What is it?” Gerard’s tone softened, not as secure as it’d been before.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Later, let’s just get out of here,” Jim responded.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jim led a mad dash across the abandoned shore, unbothered every time he nearly tripped over a rock, but every few steps, he’d assure himself that Gerard kept up. Upon finding the entrance of the trail, Jim ushered Gerard to go ahead of him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As he watched his roommate clamber back towards civilization, rustling clothes shuffled close by. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jim held his breath. He glimpsed back.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Slightly cloaked by the haze, a shrouded figure hovered at the start of the tree line. A shock of blond hair blew in the breeze, an astonishing contrast to the dark overcoat the follower adorned. It had to be a prank from the upperclassmen.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>But he didn’t dare take the chance.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jim launched forward, quickly caught up to Gerard, who had made it close to the main path and although they returned to civilization, they didn’t stop running. Jim hardly processed the sight of their pursuer. It didn’t matter at this point. They didn’t bother to stop by any of the posts or the furthest dorm. They eventually wore themselves out enough to stop by one of the academic halls, where if anything were to happen, there would hopefully be faculty to witness any challenges. The only presence around them happened to be the hiss of steam from nearby campus machinery, the bickering of wildlife, and incoherent conversation from an open window. Jim nearly keeled over as his soreness made its vicious return completely overwhelmed by a wave of fatigue.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It must’ve been a prank, upperclassmen would have nothing better to do at this time. But to break an engine that bad would be the top dedication for a prank Jim could think up, if not an outlandish pipe dream.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Howdy everybody!<br/>Just wanted to thank you all for the kind comments and kudos, you're all super chill! I also wanted to let you all know that I have a Tumblr specifically for this fic linked in my author bio. I plan on eventually posting illustrations (maybe animations if I'm feeling ambitious, idk) so if you want to see some of that in the future, definitely go check that out.<br/>Hope you all like this chapter, enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Mellow light from a pair of small brass lamps filled up the room, the welcoming dull haze a gentle reminder that was a remnant of home. Jim stumbled forward before he kicked off his heavy, scuffed boots and propped them against the adjacent wall. He leaned against that wall until he regained his balance and wrung his arms out of his jacket to toss it on the edge of the bed, only to take three dense steps to the bed in the corner and then drop like a dead weight onto the mattress.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jim closed his eyes. His exhaustion, the maelstrom of petty thoughts, everything eased the longer he laid there. His fingers still clasped onto the coarse, wrinkled paper they’d held onto for so long. He pulled himself up, propped up by his elbows against a pillow behind his upper back, as he tore at the wax seal and the enclosed paper. Tightly packed letters burst from the envelope and fell into his lap, each one visibly scrawled with cheap ink in familiar penmanship. Jim picked up the first of the letters. It read:</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Jim</span>
  </em>
  <span>,</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I hope this reaches you well, it’s been so long, and I miss you so much. As of late, construction on the inn has been coming along. Everybody who’s stopped by loves your personal touches, I don’t know how they can tell it’s you, but they can. We’re hoping everything will be done soon, maybe within the next year if everything goes to plan. It's taken so long, but probably that’s what we get for being on a planet that rains every two minutes. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>It’s helpful having B.E.N. around, I can get more done with the finances and don’t have to rely too much on others for the construction work, and it keeps him out of my hair for a few hours. Morph’s a good little companion for those long paperwork nights, he’s always right beside me, lets me focus when I have to, and gives me a distraction when I need it. I know they’re looking forward to you coming back after the year’s over, trust me, they remind me about it every day.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>How have your classes been? I remember in the letter you sent back to me at the beginning of the year you said you’ve been doing okay. I know you mentioned you’d had a hard time meeting people as well, I hope you’ve made some friends at campus, I’d love to hear about any friends you’ve made this past semester.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>You’ll probably see this a lot, in anything I send to you, but I’m proud of you. I really am.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Jim’s attention snapped from the letter at the abrupt click of a lock. He looked up as a tall, broad-shouldered Ursid alien lurched into the room, trousers loose around his waist with a towel draped over his neck, and his sandy brown curls damp and flat against his scalp. Jim sat back on his elbows the letter now to his side, half unread. The young alien man looked over at him as he pulled one side of the towel and roughly scruffed it into his hair.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re back already?” he asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What, Gerard, you surprised or something?” Jim teased.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gerard nonchalantly shrugged.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Usually when you get out of physical training it takes longer to get back,” he replied.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Eh, we got let out early, plus we got…” Jim waved around the papers in his hand, to which Gerard nodded.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, gotcha. Family crap,” he said.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, family crap,” Jim confirmed as he firmly dropped down.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He wove both arms under his head and gazed at the ceiling, undisturbed while Gerard fumbled around the room. Jim let his eyes close, something of a sweet satisfaction after the grueling questions, the persistent physical activity, the endless amount of exhaustive tasks that took up his entire day, it didn’t matter at this point. Now, he could let all those trivial concerns dissipate that didn’t need to take up his attention.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>To his left, Gerard grumbled under his breath and Jim looked over to see him hunched over a surprisingly light textbook, a hand on the top of his head, only for more incoherent rambling to spill out of his mouth. Jim rolled onto his side.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You good?” he asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Y—yeah, I’m fine I just…” Gerard’s voice trailed off before he heaved out a long, worn sigh. “I’ve been running around so much this week, I forgot to give this back to Dr. Alan.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jim gestured at him for the textbook, which Gerard delicately handed to him, obviously more conscious about the worn binding that could’ve easily sprawled out in Jim’s hands. The cover had faded from possibly decades of use to the extent that the golden imprint of text had faded, yet it was readable enough to display its title, </span>
  <em>
    <span>Epidemiology of a New Era: Concerns of Intergalactic Travels</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Jim looked back up with a knowing smirk.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Epidemiology?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s a little outdated, but it has a lot more information than I thought it’d have when Dr. Alan lent it to me,” Gerard said.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Heh.” Jim handed him back the book. “Guess I’m living with a doctor.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Soon,” Gerard interjected. “That’s gonna take more studying, even after I graduate from secondary education, I still have a round of university courses to do.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jim chuckled under his breath before he said, “I’ll offer myself as a specimen if you need one. My back’s still destroying me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gerard’s eyes narrowed, but that barely lasted until he clapped a giant hand to his face. He pulled his hand down, eyes almost glazed over, as he raised both burly eyebrows.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Jim, are you…” his already muddled voice tapered. He pressed his hands together before he continued, “I swear, upon the Queen, can you </span>
  <em>
    <span>please</span>
  </em>
  <span> see somebody about that?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jim shrugged.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Did your book have anything on whatever the hell is going on with me? Or are you just going to tell me to ‘see someone’ for the hundredth time?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gerard held his breath.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Jim, I love you, but you’re a dumbass sometimes.” he managed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jim shrugged, pushing himself off the bed. He gathered up his jacket, still idly strewn across the bed, and wrapped it around his arm. A smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth as he passed by and tauntingly nudged his shoulder into Gerard.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fair enough.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As Jim set his academy jacket aside, his eyes strayed back to Gerard, now sat his bed, shoulders slumped forward, gaze unfocused on the wooden floor, with the worn textbook about to drop from his weak hands. Jim sighed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Immediately when Gerard looked up, Jim held out his hand. He blinked a few times, glanced down at the worn cover, before he handed the book to Jim, ears drawn back and brow furrowed. Upon taking the textbook, Jim proceeded to the door at the far side of the small room, where a dark, weathered jacket had been hung up for the past week.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gerard finally sat completely upright, his eyes suddenly wide and aware, with his arms propped behind him as if he were about to launch forward.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wait, Jim, wh—what are you doing?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jim pulled his arms through the jacket, carefully balancing the fragile book in the opposite hand as he wriggled each arm through a sleeve.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Returning your book,” he replied, adjusting the jacket over his shoulders.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Jim, you really don’t—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I know, I don’t have to, but I’m doing it.” Jim intervened.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jim went for the door, his hand wrapped around the doorknob, but he heard the bed behind him creak, released of the weight it’d held. He turned around to Gerard’s form heavily propped up against the bedpost.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You don’t have to, you had a long day too.” The lighthearted chuckle he let out barely held any breath to it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jim turned the doorknob with a shrug.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t worry about me, I’ll be back in a few minutes.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gerard opened his mouth, but nothing came through. His jaw hovered where it was, unable to move before he clamped it shut and sank back onto the bed. Jim propped the book under his arm as he closed the door behind him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Again, the corridor was still, and the lights were dimmer than he recalled them being earlier. He shoved a hand in his pocket, the fragile book cradled in his other arm, while he descended the narrow staircase that would take him to the main exit two flights downstairs. As he unsteadily hurried down a single flight, a pair of hasty footsteps sounded behind him. He ignored them, set on his course of action, hopeful that he could make it quick and take the rest of the night to rest his sore joints. His blissful silence ended when he heard a voice.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Long day?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jim’s boot scuffed across a stair as he abruptly halted and caught his balance. He withheld a deep sigh and didn’t bother to turn back to look at the speaker, her tone said it all.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey, Kate.” He could barely mask the bitterness in his voice.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He felt her presence right behind him, then to his side, until she bobbed down a few more steps to pass him. Kate’s light red hair held itself together, still tightly pinned back, along with her pristine, white uniform that miraculously persisted throughout the day, unstained and wrinkle-free like it was that morning. She clasped a well-used book under her arm, its pages littered with several slips of paper stuck between them. She raised her eyebrows at him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You look rough,” she commented.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Thanks,” he mumbled with a forced grin. “Really loving your compliments.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kate steadily balanced her books and papers against her hip, while her piercing, orange eyes inspected him. A smirk crossed her face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I doubt you’re going to the library as well,” she said. “As far as I’m aware, you could use it. Studying some languages outside of your childhood mining planet would do you good.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nope,” Jim raised the book in his hand as he added, “Just dropping this off.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She nodded, that same smirk just as prying, and she raised her eyebrows. Jim finally let his shoulders drop.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What do you want, Kate?” he dryly asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kate shrugged, and shook her head, with that same face, demeaningly kind and better at hiding its true intent to any outsider.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Nothing,” she replied. “It’s late and you’re walking around. Never can be too sure what you’re up to, especially at this hour.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jim huffed out a groan as he rolled his eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I told you, I’m just dropping off a </span>
  <em>
    <span>book</span>
  </em>
  <span>. That’s it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kate raised her eyebrows again, her eyes scanned his posture, his demeanor, almost searching for something wrong, only to pivot around and carry on down the next flight of stairs.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Fine then, get some sleep for once, we’re doing a code simulation in class, tomorrow.” That was the last he heard her say.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jim felt heat simmer in his face. His jaw clenched and he shoved a fist in his pocket, concealed from any potential classmates who could inevitably find him in the stairwell. He breathed out a sigh, an instant relief of the repressed frustration that he bottled up for those brief few minutes. Jim loosened the hand in his pocket to pull up his jacket collar as he made it down a final flight of stairs, far enough behind Kate, not to deal with her comments, her petty observations, none of that. He left the warm safety of the dormitories into the chilly night.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jim continued down the path without much thought, yet he occasionally looked up at the nebula, the clearest source of light so far away from campus. The stars mapped themselves out in the sky, their positioning, something about them brought back a lot more than he anticipated, regardless he took it in, entranced by those bittersweet memories of sailing the galaxy. The sudden frigidity of the night interrupted his nostalgia, and Jim barely kept himself composed as he clutched his jacket tighter over himself, barely focused on the nearly invisible plumes that billowed from his breath.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Suddenly, his footsteps sounded like they were echoing. Jim blinked a few times, perhaps the fatigue finally caught up, or maybe the cold got to him. He continued further, the medical wing gradually closer in sight, however, those footsteps were  suddenly out of rhythm.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>This wasn’t right.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He stopped, and with that, the footsteps suddenly stopped behind him. He froze as he heard them again. He held his breath as he proceeded to the medical wing’s entrance, gradually picking up his pace until he arrived closer to it. Right beneath the lantern that illuminated the medical wing’s entrance, he noted the bell hung up, an emergency bell, as all had been assembled across the campus. He pressed towards the bell until he stood under light and spun around.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>No one stepped into the light. Despite patiently waiting if his pursuer would reveal themself, nobody emerged from the pool of darkness that consumed the rest of his surroundings, the entirety of the campus, untouched by any other streetlights, or the illumination of the stars overhead. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jim clutched onto his jacket as he backed into the door, fumbling for the handle. He spun around into the lobby of the ward, a pristine, clean room with a well-polished desk at the far end of it. He glanced around the lobby, at the chairs neatly aligned on the side of the wall, at the wooden cabinet that sheltered neat stacks of paper, and still, no one. Jim stepped forward right when he noticed the small sign set on the desk.</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Will be back shortly, place return items on the desk.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>He pulled the book from the crook of his arm and held it delicately in his hands in hopes it wouldn’t crumble to dust from the basic motion. He gingerly set it down on the desk, beside the small sign, where he noticed behind it were a pair of small books beside a stamped checkout paper. Perfect, other returns.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>With the return now complete and successful, he spun around to face the door again. Before he could gear himself in that direction, he grumbled under his breath; it </span>
  <em>
    <span>must’ve</span>
  </em>
  <span> been Kate, she must’ve been trying to mess with his head, it wouldn’t be unlikely for her to eventually graduate to taking her subtle snide remarks further. Perhaps his assumptions of her weren’t fair, but he couldn’t pinpoint any other student who’d plan on antagonizing him for their entertainment unless an upperclassman secondary student decided to take their boredom out on a freshman. Jim buried his face deeper into his propped up collar, then dug his hands into his pockets, and approached the door, leaving the security of the empty medical ward, mind dead set on a swift return to the dormitories.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After a few minutes of treading into the darkness, the bitter cold aggressively asserted its presence, piercing through his thick jacket, which in combination with the undesired presence of an unknown lurker prompted him to hurry. That burst of energy didn’t last long as his brisk pace gradually slowed immediately as the aggressive pain in his knees brutally returned. Everything in his body felt heavier as if he’d drug himself miles further than he walked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A shrill scream ripped through the night.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jim startled, his eyes widened, obstructed by the darkness that had completely engulfed him. In the low light, he determined the direction of the cry, somewhere to his left, far enough from the medical ward, enough distance from the dorms, enough to go undetected by anyone in the night. Although his heart felt like it skipped a beat, he held his breath, forced himself to put aside the agony in his joints, and ventured from the path, as another shout ripped through the night, a foreboding guide that led him deeper into the thicket of trees.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He gently pushed past branches, careful of each twig under his feet, hopeful he wouldn’t startle when the yelping got inescapably closer to him. He drew close enough that he could almost discern the frantic words that cried from deep within the shallow woodland, but he kept his stance low as he came across a very small clearing.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Two large strangers in long sea coats hovered, heads obscured by hats and bandanas, overlooked a hunched-over student, still garbed in their academy uniform, and clutching for their life on the ground. The student’s words remained an incomprehensible mess, distorted between panicked shrieks every few seconds, and the occasional pained whimper whenever one of the strangers would take a blow to the student’s body. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jim’s eyes widened. He cursed under his breath. Adrenaline immediately surged through his body, and he shook as he stepped back, still wary of the possible sounds he could make. Then, the student let out a miserable howl, in that instant he decided differently. He stepped as hard as he could on a twig.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The strangers’ heads swung in his direction.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>At that exact moment, Jim launched forward. He weaved between trees as thunderous footprints trampled the ground behind him in a desperate attempt to confuse them in the labyrinth of trees. Branches nearly struck him in the face, only dodged by his swift movements and faint, instinctual sensation of his surroundings.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They were getting closer.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jim burst back onto the path, the first sign of civilization. He geared himself towards the medical wing again, determined to get them to follow his tracks as best as possible.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Soreness ripped through his worn body, but the burst of energy kept him going, faster than he anticipated he could keep up with. He ran into the side of the medical ward building, before he pressed himself off of it, hardly able to keep his exact footing, yet he dragged himself along the perimeter of the building, half propped up by the structure, as he went for the emergency bell right beside the dim lantern light. He clambered towards it, hands desperately clasping for the long, thick rope until they finally wrapped around it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>With a forceful tug, he pulled the rope back.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The bell’s tone radiated through the night. It blocked out the oncoming footsteps that pursued him for so long, at that point it blocked out so much noise, the sound almost burst his eardrums. The tone droned on, and despite the fatigue that overtook that energetic rush, he mustered his very little energy to make sure the entire campus could be promptly alerted.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Suddenly, a massive hand rested on his shoulder. Jim started and frantically spun around, his chest tight, breathing unsteady before his eyes shot up. A tall alien man with patterned gray skin and short ears, clothed in only his trousers and undershirt, stared down at him with stern, steely eyes—a commanding officer, an instructor.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What’re you doing?” he asked with a flat, yet threatening tone.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jim stumbled back, a humiliating fall away before he caught himself against the supports that propped up the bell, unable to quite let go of the rope.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Th—the path, h—he needs help.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The officer’s dry expression hardly changed, but his eyes widened and he pursed his lips.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The what?” he demanded.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“H—hurry, th—they kicked the </span>
  <em>
    <span>shit</span>
  </em>
  <span> out of him!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The officer glanced between Jim and back into the darkness, which now sounded with several calls and shouts, each of them familiar, but incoherent enough that Jim couldn’t determine exactly who was out there. Before he could dare to pinpoint anyone out of the sea of voices, one drastically notable sounded off.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mr. Hawkins?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jim didn’t have to look at the new figure who stood to his other side, he could instantly tell from the vague silhouette, cat-like ears, a sharp coat, and brisk step. Captain Amelia charged towards him and the officer with a frantic, quick pace.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What in the </span>
  <em>
    <span>hell</span>
  </em>
  <span> is going on?” Amelia demanded.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Captain, I—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The boy said someone was hurt by the path!” the officer blurted, completely cutting Jim off from his own nearly frenetic explanation.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Amelia’s ears perked and the slits in her eyes narrowed. Before she could drill either of them on further questions, several people called, from in the direction of the path. She straightened her coat, her ears pivoted in the direction of the commotion, and she stepped down, back into the abyss of night, further towards where Jim had narrowly escaped with his life.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>This wasn’t right. Nothing about this was right.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Howdy, people!</p><p>Thanks for being patient with me the last few weeks, had to help out a family member recovering from surgery last week (nothing super major and he's recovering well) and then had a few job interviews back to back. But as promised here's the next chapter. Hope you all enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Between the agonizingly bright light that beamed from the communications screen and the disjointed lecture that rattled on behind him, Jim couldn’t keep focus. The blatant appeal of closing his eyes tempted him, especially as the crucial presentation he should’ve been more perceptive to continually garbled into nonsense. Regardless, the delicate task at his hands required whatever attentiveness he could summon, surprisingly persuaded by the pair of scrutinizing orange eyes that harshly observed his every move. Jim blinked a few times. His eyes focused on the little green pixels that dotted across the screen, not completely sure what little messages each of them formed. Despite the holes in the code, he pieced together enough to understand what the core programming was: a problem struck one of the energy rooms, the much needed conditions that surrounded this simulated dilemma barely explained why the code was so broken.</p><p>“You’re taking longer than usual.”</p><p>Jim kept his gaze honed in on the cipher. Kate hummed under her breath.</p><p>“You look rough again,” she commented nonchalantly. “Do you even sleep anymore?”</p><p>“No,” Jim muttered under his breath.</p><p>Eyes plastered to the screen, he waited for any further comments, perhaps she’d be decent enough to leave him alone for a few minutes with his short response.</p><p>“Hmm, unfortunate,” Kate replied.</p><p>She immediately went quiet, a saving grace, as she continued on her work. Without Kate’s interjection distracting him anymore, the numbers finally clicked in his head, and despite the frantic spacing in the numbers along with the complete lack of formality that was commonplace in other training simulations, some of it pieced together. When Jim applied the numbers to text, the code revealed distressed hacking at whatever hypothetical communications device present in this given situation. Various common words were poorly spelled, as well, several spaces littered the message, intrusively in between these words. The message disarranged in his head before he mindlessly jotted the translations down beside him on a stray piece of paper.</p><p> </p><p>
  <em> S. O D  nGr !  dAner  ! ind ru dderr  o n     bo  r d! En D  ehlP! </em>
</p><p> </p><p>As he observed the crudely coded “intruder,” he clenched his jaw. What he saw, the night before, it wasn’t real, it really couldn’t have been, it must’ve been a hazing prank gone wrong, <em> something </em> like that, hell, for all he knew, Kate could’ve bribed an upperclassman to freak him out. Especially after her constant jabs at his lack of proper sleep, that he looked so “rough” every day.</p><p>“Mr. Hawkins?”</p><p>Jim startled. His eyes darted up at the superior officer before him, an alien woman with scales across her face, a strong brow, and bold dark eyes that carefully watched him.</p><p>“Yes, Commander?” Jim mentally punched himself, the uncertainty in his voice wasn’t hiding anything from his instructor.</p><p>The Commander directed her attention to the paper at his side, scrawled with a chaotic excuse for notes before she noticed the ink smudged on Jim’s shaky hand. She solemnly bowed her head and raised her brow.</p><p>“You’ve gotten more done than I anticipated,” she said.</p><p>Jim’s eyes shot between the screen, his documented ink ramblings on the paper, and his instructor’s stoic gaze, until they finally landed back on the paper, only to be unsure if any of the decipher was comprehensible. He returned his recognition to her and absentmindedly nodded. The commander hummed under her breath.</p><p>“Well,” she straightened the collar of her jacket before she resumed, “I hope this isn’t a complete interruption to your studies, but the Dean wanted to see you.”</p><p>“The Dean?” </p><p>Jim’s brows furrowed. His fatigue melted, quickly replaced by a sudden advanced awareness of his surroundings.</p><p>“She said it was quite urgent,” she said.</p><p>Despite the uncomfortable knot in his chest, Jim made the effort to steadily get up from his desk. He couldn’t tell if she could see it, the instant change in his composure, her face didn’t say much either way and even then, everyone’s response across the room remained difficult to read. As soon as he retained focus on his superior officer, he realized he was most likely forcing more eye contact than necessary, and in that time of intolerable silence, he cleared his throat.</p><p>“Thank you, ma’am.”</p><p>He strode past, barely able to keep his chest out or his shoulders straight, even before he departed from the technical room into the vacant corridor. His shoulders released, albeit still tense, and he simultaneously allowed his chest to sink in at the sudden recollection of those vivid images in his immediate memory. </p><p>The student, hardly visible in the poor illumination, howled in that same concoction of fear, pain, and ridicule, in advance of his body as it gruesomely contorted at the force of the assailant aggressively grasping his limbs. Jim held his breath, excessively wary of anyone who could potentially pass by, anyone who could catch him in this poor excuse of a state, but then he let it out through his nose.</p><p>The grandeur of the main structure lost its luster; the gold leaf insignias that had been delicately crafted onto the alabaster ornaments across the academy walls over the last two centuries dulled from their usual midday shimmer. The bright red of the velveteen banners, graced with the academy insignias, seemed insignificant compared to the vast empty arena Jim entered. Every portrait hung on the walls, each of a historic commander dating back decades ago, their eyes followed him, their proud smirks seemed more critical of his lacking posture, sheerly disappointed in their current cadet. Jim straightened his shoulders, although he still felt those harsh gazes on his back, and then pursued to another corridor connected to the large room.</p><p>The hall didn’t end, it stretched far longer than it did in previous instances when he had to meet with Amelia, additionally, the windows barely caught enough light to make the space as elegant as it’d been before. Jim wrestled to keep himself upright as he approached a dark wooden door, encrusted with that same gold leaf. He knocked, firmly, yet with less assertion than he’d hoped for.</p><p>“Come in.”</p><p>Jim fiddled with the door for a moment, then again, his hand shook more than he’d expected, but he finally got it together as he finally pressed his way into the office.</p><p>The office appeared lighter than the corridor, despite its dark painted furniture, some of it scratched from years of use, which Jim always assumed dated back at least a century. Then again, the pale green paint allowed enough light to bounce off the walls, which in turn made this small office feel larger than it was. Several books lined the walls on sturdy bookshelves, occasionally interrupted by navigational artifacts that sat untouched, barely used, nostalgic reminders of past spacers, and their endeavors in the Etherium. At the far end of the office, Amelia stood beside her desk, papers collected in her hands, and she gestured to one of two seats in front of her.</p><p>“Please, have a seat.”</p><p>Jim half nodded before he approached the seat in front of her. He sat down, hopeful she hadn’t noticed his change in pace, his lack of proper greeting, or anything completely out of the ordinary. However, her observant stare and raised ears indicated otherwise, as she, too, took a seat across from him.</p><p>“You seem quite rough this afternoon,” she started.</p><p>Jim glanced down, her eye contact struck a little harsher than he thought.</p><p>“I didn’t sleep well, that’s all.” At least that half-truth might deter any of her insinuations of him.</p><p>Amelia folded her hands together and leaned in.</p><p>“Mr. Hawkins, while I don't distrust you having had a bad night of sleep, I didn’t call you here on that concern,” she began, “rather, there was that...incident last night.”</p><p>At first, Jim couldn’t get the words to process correctly. He averted his gaze to a sliver in the wood, nauseous at the anxious tangle in his stomach, as each murky memory replayed in his head, particularly centered on the anonymous, unwilling target of that attack.</p><p> “W—was he hurt?” he asked, hardly able to veil the tremble in his voice.</p><p>Amelia’s ears flattened at the question, but rather than explain the other cadet’s situation, she picked up a leatherbound notebook and pen, the nib lightly tipped with ink.</p><p>“Mr. Hawkins, I understand that whatever you saw last night was a disturbance,” she said, her austere tone mellowed out. “It pains me to see a cadet, a student, get hurt in this kind of occurrence. We want to assure this <em> never </em> happens again. And you were the one to sound the alarm, is that correct?”</p><p>“Yes, ma’am.”</p><p>Amelia sternly nodded, eyes unmoving as she rested her writing hand on the paper. “The staff at the medical ward informed me that you returned a textbook to them for your roommate. Did you encounter these assailants after going to the medical ward?”</p><p>Jim struggled to piece together the images in his head.</p><p>“Y—yes, ma’am, but I think somebody followed me on the way there.” He quickly cleared his throat at the instability in his voice.</p><p>Amelia rapidly jotted down calligraphic words on the paper beside her.</p><p>“Did you see them?” she inquired. “The intruders?”</p><p>“Yeah...” Jim’s voice trailed off before he added, “But it was dark, and they were wearing similar coats and hats...I couldn’t tell the difference between them all.”</p><p>“Understood,” Amelia replied. “And you mentioned something prior, you were followed?”</p><p>Jim hesitantly nodded.</p><p>“Yes, ma’am.” He tried to swallow back the obvious crack in his voice.</p><p>“And where was this intruder following you from?”</p><p>“I—I don’t know. Somewhere between the dorms and the medical ward.”</p><p>Amelia’s ears flicked at his response, she hummed under her breath as her eyes drifted to a widespread map of the campus to her other side. She traced the path with a manicured hand, keen on every detail of it, but her pupils dilated and her ears quivered before completely redirecting her attention to him.</p><p>“You took this path, Mr. Hawkins?”</p><p>Jim glanced down at the fine line she pointed at, instantly aware of the path, the same path he took to the medical ward the night before.</p><p>“Yes, ma’am.”</p><p>Amelia didn’t respond this time, rather, she averted her scrutiny back to the paper, now littered with frantic handwriting that wasn’t quite her typical clean penmanship. After she scrawled down some more words, she looked back at Jim, her characteristic austere look softened a lot, something Jim hadn’t seen come from her since their space endeavors from the previous year.</p><p>“If I can be frank with you, Mr. Hawkins,” she said. “I’m shocked they didn’t come after you, that you didn’t get dragged into the quarrel yourself.”</p><p>Jim kept his mouth shut. He felt sick, unsure how to respond, however, he consciously made the effort to uphold his appearance wherever he could.</p><p>He scowled, it finally hit him, and without much thought, he admitted, “I should’ve done something.”</p><p>He lowered his head, desperate to ignore the twinge in his chest.</p><p>“Mr. Hawkins?”</p><p>At the sound of her voice, he lifted it again, to meet her eyes, still unlike her often authoritative stance, before she stood up from her desk, her hands still pushed up against it.</p><p>“You did what was in your power. You’re not to blame for this event, nor are you responsible for another cadet’s injuries. You alerted the campus, and with that, you scared off his attackers. You did something, and while perhaps it was less direct, it resulted in one less student casualty.”</p><p>Jim couldn’t bring himself to respond, she was right.</p><p>“I understand that this is…difficult for you,” Amelia said, breaking the silence again. “Do you need some time?”</p><p>It took a moment for the words to form properly in his head, but when they did, Jim got up from his seat, this time more determined to keep his stance strong.</p><p>“Not now, Captain, I’d just like to go back to class.”</p><p>Amelia raised an eyebrow. She strode around the side of her desk until she directly stood across from him.</p><p>“Very well,” she responded.</p><p>She gestured to him to follow as she walked past, and it wasn’t long until he caught up with her. She approached the door, her hand rested on the door handle.</p><p>“If you see anything else, don’t hesitate to report to me or any of your superior officers, we’re monitoring the situation, and want to be aware of any other suspicious activity. Is that understood?” she asked.</p><p>“Yes, ma’am.” Jim replied before he mumbled, “Thanks.”</p><p>The concern somewhat dissipated from her face, replaced with a half-smile. She opened the door, wide enough for him to get through. He got through, but suddenly stopped as he heard her say one last thing.</p><p>“I’ll see you around, then.”</p><p>Jim stared ahead, almost paralyzed as he mused on how to respond. Before he could catch a breath, the door shut behind him, and the click of the lock indicated their meeting was over. He debated knocking on her door, to give a more formal departure, it’s what she deserved, but perhaps she expected him to immediately return to his studies.</p><p>The walk back to the room didn’t bring back the weight on his chest, instead, it gradually let go, a minor relief after several agonizing hours. When he peered into the room he’d attended to only moments ago, no one was there. Chairs had been neatly pushed into the workstations, the monitors from before were shut off, completely untouched for a decent while. More time must’ve passed than he thought. He mentally filed through where he was supposed to go, which building, which end of campus, if it was aggressive physical training or mundane tasks for a few hours. Then his memory settled on it, the docks, that’s where he needed to go.</p><p>Jim quickened his pace as he approached a long staircase, with a glass dome hung overhead, the over-elaborate scene was the only way he could make it outside from this end of the building. He rushed down the stairs, barely vigilant to any other students, instructors, or superior officers who may come across his disorderly posture. Perhaps it wasn’t worth the trouble worrying, the hallways were just as vacant as they were minutes ago, and the exit to the main hall was just in sight.</p><p>“I understand, Captain, but this <em> can’t </em> be the case!”</p><p>Jim started at the sudden, deep voice that tore through a nearby door, hardly cracked open, but enough for the voice to sound clear. He paused, eyes keened in on the source of the sound.</p><p>“Keep it down, will you?” Amelia’s voice hissed from the same direction.</p><p>Why was she there?</p><p>Jim vigilantly watched his feet, cautious that they didn’t scuff across the polished floors, as he crept closer to the door. When he got close enough, he saw the weak chain lock that narrowly held the door together from the inside, something they mustn’t have noticed just yet. He crouched down and positioned himself as out of sight as he could. Despite the lack of visibility on his end, he managed to glimpse Amelia, the Officer from the night before, as well as several commanders gathered around what he assumed was a wide desk of some kind with multiple large sheets of paper draped over it, all of them held in place by navigation devices that projected holograms of disconnected locations.</p><p>“We don’t need any more students to be afraid for their lives, the one I met with today was still quite shaken up,” Amelia added, her austere voice softened slightly.</p><p>“I understand that, Captain, however—” That voice, its depth, its gritty, solid delivery, it really couldn’t have been him. Could it be?</p><p>“That last thing we <em> need </em> , Admiral, is a bunch of frenzied students due to <em> our </em> disorganization!” Amelia retorted.</p><p>She was in a conference with who he thought that was, wasn’t she?</p><p>“Captain, I know you’re concerned, you’re a fine commanding officer, and you have the expertise that will only benefit the student population. Giving you this position, Dean of Students, isn’t a choice I made without hard consideration, without knowing what you’ve accomplished.”</p><p>“Ugh, Hoseason, don’t bother with your flattery,” she scoffed.</p><p>All of them, Amelia, the instructing commanders, were in that room with Admiral Hoseason, the president of the Interstellar Academy, a man Jim only encountered on his orientation day. He barely recalled the details of him, but his presence alone veered between a good-humored man with bountiful stories about his adventurous past, and the living embodiment of nightmares any intergalactic child would have. His voice could make you assume he was joking, only a minute later to encapsulate the bitterness of war, like a dysfunctional switch on the verge of working.</p><p>Jim kept still, more guarded about his presence in earshot of the group. He held his breath at the sound of heavy, forceful footsteps against a hardwood floor.</p><p>“Then what do you want, Smollet?” Hoseason’s voice flipped that malfunctioning switch, the praise replaced by rapid callousness.</p><p>“I want to ensure that this <em> never happens again. </em>” Amelia’s voice harshened, stricter than she’d ever spoken to a student on the campus. “This unforeseen attack pointed to several vulnerabilities currently present here at the Interstellar Academy, see here, where the student was ambushed.”</p><p>The room went silent, aside from hushed, perplexed chatter between who Jim assumed were the other commanders in the room.</p><p>Vulnerabilities?</p><p>“Mere coincidences,” Hoseason spat, half in laughter, half in spite. “I’ve been president of this campus for fourteen years, straight out of the navy. If these so-called ‘vulnerabilities’ were there before, what do you make of my time here, completely untouched by enemy forces?”</p><p>“I have several theories, Admiral, but that isn’t necessary for now,” Amelia replied. “Despite your fourteen years of order, a student was violently attacked on <em> your </em>campus.”</p><p>Hoseason softly chuckled.</p><p>“That student is an upperclassman, just a semester away from the university phase of this academy. He’ll be in combat in a few years, probably a realistic start for him,” he said.</p><p>The room went quiet again. An upperclassman got hit, worse, an upperclassman nearing graduation from the secondary education level, so close to the university level. Jim swallowed. It had to be someone so close to getting out, getting closer to the cosmos, not an underclassman so far from that reach.</p><p>“Admiral, I beg your pardon,” Amelia snapped. “But that student may never make it to combat, dependent on how he recovers. Worse, another student was nearly hurt in the process. Do you want more students hurt?”</p><p>“Enough!”</p><p>Something slammed against the floor, hard enough that Jim jumped, lost his footing, and fell back. In that brief moment, the entire room went quiet. Before he could listen for footsteps, he shot up to his feet and darted to the door. Precisely as he rushed out the nearest door, on the brink of shutting it completely, he heard the creak of the other one adjacent to him.</p><p>He briskly strode further from the building, perhaps it made him look suspicious, conceivably it wouldn’t. His head ran faster than any logic could keep up, but he kept whatever little attention he had concentrated on making it to the docks.</p><p>Whoever that upperclassman was, he got hurt, worse than what Amelia hinted at. He may not be able to return, may not be able to go into the Etherium as every single student at this Academy had deemed as their deepest, childlike want. But those injuries, unreported, unnoticed by the other students, and whatever Jim saw in the dark was so distorted in his head, he’d probably never know the extent of them.</p><p>“Hey, Jim!”</p><p>A firm hand landed on his shoulder, enough to startle him out of his anxious haze. </p><p>Gerard stood beside him, though his dark eyes were often bright and excited, their glow faded as soon as they looked down on him. The heap of torn solar sails in his sturdy arms weighed down a little. He shut his mouth, lips pressed together as if they were on the edge of saying something. They eventually did.</p><p>“Jim, you good?”</p><p>The question took a few seconds to settle in, his reaction was even more delayed, yet his eyes focused away from Gerard’s direct, perplexed observance, focused on something that wasn’t there. </p><p>He cleared his throat, finally able to say, “I’m fine.”</p><p>Jim straightened out his jacket and stood a little taller, suddenly cognizant of the students around him, each attending to a new task. It looked like rigging, that or presumably basic solar panel repairs on the sails, something slightly mindless. Perfect. Jim surveyed the pile of sails not too far behind his roommate.</p><p>“Repairs?” he asked.</p><p>Gerard hesitantly shrugged and diffidently replied, “Yeah, that’s about it.” Before Jim could get close to the pile, Gerard took him by the shoulder again and whispered, “Hey, if you don’t wanna talk about what’s going on here, we can later today.”</p><p>Jim shrugged a shoulder, a wordless agreement to Gerard’s offer. Even then, all he would want to tell him about was his meeting with Amelia, and her alone. </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey everybody! Thanks again for all the reads, kudos, and feedback, I hope you all are enjoying it so far. After this update, chapter uploads might take a while longer since I've started my job on top of finishing up this semester at school. That said, hope you all enjoy this chapter!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Outside, galactic schooners droned as they drifted past the campus, some of them were naval ships, others importers, the typical ships that would dock early in the day, and depart in the evening. Any semblance of sunlight dipped below the horizon, replaced by vibrant starscape that scattered the evening sky interwoven with the commotion of colors that made up the nearest nebula. Beyond the nightly spectacle, the lanterns that lined the cobblestone path outside flickered, unsurprisingly worn with age, in dire need of attention in the coming days.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The first night Jim spent on campus, several months ago, the nebula’s brilliant presence over the campus took every concern, about the curriculum, the tumultuous days ahead, it took that all away from him. The incredible display was something he recalled from deep space, never from his upbringing on a lone, dreary mining planet. Despite the colorful show nullifying into a nightly occurrence, sometimes he’d look out again, now more aware of how much more was out there, what he’d see shortly. Jim’s shoulders sunk as he tentatively looked back.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gerard hadn’t come back yet, no doubt taking his time in the showers for the upcoming two day break. Progressively more aware of how bad his joints creaked and his muscles ached, Jim regretted finishing up as fast as he did, but the entire day kept his head half in reality, half out of it. He stepped back from the window, got close enough to his bed, and dropped down. A wave of pain ran up his legs, into his lower back, and he held his breath. The abrupt pain dulled to soreness, but an agonizing twinge in his neck immediately threw out every ounce of self control he mustered. He barely held back a scream and shut his mouth. Nobody in the halls should hear this. He cursed under his breath, before clenching his jaw again, forced to shakily breathe through his nose. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>As if on an inconvenient queue, Gerard sidled through the door, one hand on the doorknob, the other aggressively drying out his damp curls with a towel. His attention drifted from the hallway to the room, then finally on his roommate. His eyes widened.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Shit, Jim, you okay?” he asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It’s nothing, just pulled a muscle again,” Jim responded through grit teeth.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gerard shook his head, tossed his towel on the floor, and neared Jim’s side. He held his hands up, ready to do what they needed while keeping them to himself in his moment of observation.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Same area?” he asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’m fine, it’ll—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jim couldn’t finish his sentence; a drastic spasm tore through his neck, down into his upper spine with a merciless vengeance. He caught what would’ve evolved into a horrific scream in the back of his throat, a slight grunt let out instead. Gerard’s presence loomed closer, and although Jim remained as still as he could, there was no way he could wrestle an excuse out now. As always, the pain gradually eased, until it developed into a much gentler throb. After Jim’s shoulders relaxed and he breathed at a steady rate, Gerard returned to where he knelt before, now complete with his observation.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I dunno what else to tell you,” Gerard stated, “but you’ve </span>
  <em>
    <span>got</span>
  </em>
  <span> to get that checked out at some point.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jim kept his eyes low, pinpointed on the cracks in the hardwood floor. Gerard slumped forward as well and without looking he could tell that his roommate’s focus was latched onto him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It could be not that bad, but it could get worse,” Gerard said. “It’s been getting more frequent lately and I just don’t want to see if it can get worse.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The lingering silence felt off. Jim mentally tossed around responses, unsure of each one that came to mind. He could attempt to reassure Gerard for the hundredth time that he was fine, though Gerard was definitely past the point of believing that. They both were. Perhaps he could try to hide the next bout, but they’d gotten incredibly difficult to hide.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If you want, I’ll go with you. Maybe I could get you in faster,” Gerard offered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jim shot whatever poor attempt at a thankful smile he could, however, didn't communicate the way he wanted, especially at Gerard’s look of concern.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I’ll figure it out tomorrow,” Jim responded without the energy he was hoping would come through.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gerard let out a weary sigh as he got up, trudged for his bed across the room, and sank into the mattress.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You gonna be able to sleep?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jim shrugged the lesser tense of his shoulders. Gerard frowned and raised an eyebrow, the response Jim knew he’d give him, but hoped he wouldn’t.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Do you want me to get you a sleep aid or something? I can—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, it’s fine.” Jim interrupted, then hurriedly added, “We’re not supposed to leave dorms after dark, so don’t worry. I’ll be fine.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gerard opened his mouth, on the brink of a rebuttal, most likely about to suggest escorting him to the medical ward. He closed his mouth, let out a worn-out sigh, and then redirected his gaze to Jim with raised eyebrows and wide eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You sure?” he asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jim nodded.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“If I can’t sleep, it’s my fault,” he responded.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gerard’s uncertain expression eased as he held back a laugh, and said, “Fair enough.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He lifted the blankets, then swung his legs under the covers, careful as he laid down. He reached for the knob on the light near his bed, but then his eyes shot back to Jim.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You staying up?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah,” Jim replied. “Just for an hour.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The smirk on Gerard’s face and the hum from the back of his throat made it obvious he was unconvinced, but that hum developed into a playful head shake. He switched off the knob on his light, to which Jim adjusted his as well until Gerard’s completely faded out, and Jim’s was dim enough that the orange glow would let him see whatever was in front of him, but not disturb his roommate. Gerard rolled onto his side, facing the wall.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Try to sleep, dumbass,” he mumbled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jim rolled his eyes.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Don’t bet on it,” he whispered.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Immediately when the rustling of blankets on the other side of the small room dissipated, Jim reached for the small stack of loose papers on his desk, before he gathered them up, and held them in his hands. He leafed through them, some were incomplete assignments, but the remaining pages were letters, ink smudged with time, ringed with water stains, all handwritten by his mother. He flipped through them again, lost in the scrawled updates, conversations, and affirmations she’d put together over the months.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jim glanced over at Gerard, who hadn’t moved whatsoever, aside from the slow rise and fall from his shoulders. He looked around the room, unable to focus his bleary eyes on the clock on the far side of the small room. He dragged his hand along his face and cursed under his breath; he couldn’t bother himself to get up and check what unholy hour he’d been awake at, and with his earlier bout of pain, it was bound to make a vicious return.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then, he heard a series of thumps, directly above his head. They varied in pace, sometimes quick and rhythmic until they’d come to a gradual halt, silent, briefly interrupted by a subtle creak.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>As soon as they appeared, they faded away. Jim slowly got out of bed and he peered out the small window, attentive to keep himself as invisible as possible. No one. All he noticed were the lanterns had cut their power, although while they often dimmed late in the night they never cut their power off.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His chest sank. He couldn’t pry his eyes off the window as his head ran through several possible scenarios and judged by the conversation he’d overheard earlier that day nothing he concluded was good.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jim’s focus alternated between his sleeping roommate, the door, his jacket on the hanger, and the dark pathway outside. He switched off his light, then quietly approached the hanger, reached for his beaten jacket, and threw on his boots. He crept to the door, delicately twisted the doorknob, to immediately sneak out.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The corridor was dark, devoid of any recent activity. Jim carefully watched his footing, overtly aware of every creak in the floorboards in a desperate hope they wouldn’t sound any louder. He stopped between flights of stairs and listened for anyone in the halls, close to the walls, prepared to duck into hiding. Eventually, he descended upon the main foyer, everything in it obscured by darkness, aside from the light that pierced through the distorted glass windows in the main door. Jim edged closer to it, hypervigilant of any unusual shadows. He held his breath as he heedfully turned the knob. It quietly clicked and he inched the door open. He reached into his pocket, fumbled around until he pulled out a small solar lighter, and held his thumb on the switch as he sidled out the door.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A crisp, brutal wind picked up. Trees rustled violently in the wind, an instant obstruction from his ability to sense out anything too far from him, especially if someone was still on the roof. Jim wrapped an arm around him, holding the jacket tighter around his chest, but held up the solar lighter higher up. Huddled close to the walls of the structure, he investigated the perimeter further, hopeful that his dark jacket would blend in with the dark brush around him. The wind continually swept his hair in his eyes, as if the underlit campus hadn’t barred his vision enough.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jim ventured further from campus into the shallow brush and trees, however, he kept close enough to the path in case he needed to bolt to a campus building, to an alarm. He detected a faint glow getting closer as he traveled alongside the path. The rest of campus </span>
  <em>
    <span>must</span>
  </em>
  <span> have been completely lit up, as normal, and perhaps the lights going out at the dorms were solely a mechanical error, but the flutter in his chest said otherwise, that it probably never was that, most likely quite worse.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A twig snapped behind him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He froze.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Cloth rustled behind him, thick feet in heavy boots pounded against the hard dirt ground. A rush of adrenaline prepared to launch him in a mad dash for his life.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jim started, but whatever it was got to him quickly. A hand gripped his shoulder and swung him back. Before he could make a complete scene in hopes to scare off the assailant or attract attention, he whipped the solar lighter, switched it on, and blinded whoever stood there.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Jim, what the—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He pulled back the solar lighter as the captor’s hand let go of him. The adrenaline that kicked up so much lessened as his eyes readjusted in the low light.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Gerard? Wh—what are you—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I was about to ask the </span>
  <em>
    <span>same damn thing!</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Gerard retorted in a harsh whisper.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I just,” Jim sighed, he’d instantly regret telling him, he knew he would. But he continued, “While you were asleep, I heard some shit. Something’s not right.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And you decide to waltz your way into the dead of night? By </span>
  <em>
    <span>yourself</span>
  </em>
  <span>?” Gerard demanded.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jim stuffed a hand in his pocket and shrugged a shoulder.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You here to remind me I’m being stupid?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gerard lowered his head, only to look back at Jim with a mild scowl and he raised his arms.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Jim, I know you’re good at what you do, but whatever these people are? You're not gonna be able to fight them off yourself.” Gerard said. “You’re a small human, who knows what they are. They could </span>
  <em>
    <span>easily</span>
  </em>
  <span> beat the shit out of you. The least you can do, if you’re going to be this straight up foolish, is ask me to do something foolish with you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gerard dropped his arms to his side. A smirk pulled at the corner of Jim’s lips as he turned back around, the solar lighter in hand.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Then come on,” he said.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The pair continued in the woodland, near the path, but in the brush enough to be easily obscured to anyone passing by. Jim occasionally glanced back at Gerard, who, despite the anxious frown on his face, kept his posture tall, shoulders out and broad, and he clenched his large hands into battle-ready fists. Jim carefully listened for any other movement that didn’t correlate with his or Gerard’s, simultaneously relieved that he couldn’t hear anything else, yet wary of the lack of other presence. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>As they trekked closer to the library hall, Jim noticed the dim lighting darkened more, that at this point, any light they’d see all around the campus had cascaded from the nebula, the stars, and the moon overhead. The realization felt like a sharp slap to the face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>None of the lanterns were on anymore.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jim gestured back at his roommate, silently guiding his attention to the burnt out lanterns that left ahead an underlit path. The perplexed frown that crossed Gerard’s face indicated the two of them shared a mutual valid concern. Jim parted loose branches and held onto them so they wouldn’t hit  Gerard in the face, as he stepped closer to the footpath that eventually led to the entrance to the library.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>From the woods they’d just left a bush rustled. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jim clenched his hands into fists and spun around, precise fighting jabs fresh in his mind from the grueling week before and Gerard didn’t stray far behind with his vigilant posture even taller. Before either could swing a punch, the gleam of keen, orange eyes immediately brought them to a halt as a figure emerged from the bushes. Wide-eyed at what felt like an absolute kick to the chest, Jim’s eyebrows furrowed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Kate, what—”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Shut up!” Kate whispered back harshly. “Do you want us to get found out?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gerard, who was so close to pummeling somebody, dropped his brawny arms to his sides. Both of them didn’t hesitate to return their shock and frustration to their classmate.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Found out?” Jim asked, keeping his voice low as well.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kate glared the two down, not with her often critical look, but the way her brow creased, and her eyes widened, it was absolutely something different.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Did you not see them?” She looked around, definitely aware of something they weren’t, before she continued, “They were running in the other direction to you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Although he should’ve seen it coming, Jim felt an uncomfortable knot bind itself in his gut.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You...saw somebody.” It came out more of a statement, he knew better than to ask such a stupid question.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kate barely nodded.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Where are they?” he asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I thought I saw them coming this way, but they’re just...they’re gone,” Kate replied. There was a slight tremble in her voice, but she cleared her throat and instantly interjected, “We’ve got to alert campus. Now.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wh—but where’s the nearest bell?” Gerard kept his voice just as low, but it was shakier, certainly more than he intended.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jim glimpsed the tall gothic towers of the library’s upper level before he looked over at Kate. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“There’s a bell in the library, right?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kate pursed her lips and said, “Good thinking, Hawkins.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Without much else between the three, Jim started, his solar lighter clasped in his tense grip, Kate and Gerard on either side of him, as they headed in the direction of the library.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The library, by day an architectural marvel, several stories high and constructed as one of the first elaborate buildings of the campus, now cast its looming shadow over the teenagers. The three kept close to walls, up against anywhere darker than the rest of the area, hopeful that the shadows obscured them in the low light. It didn’t take long for them to make the perilous trek to follow Kate to a side door on the far end of the library, her likely mode of escape that night. Kate pulled two pins out of her hair, which let down a long braid from her pinned up bun, and knelt to fumble with the lock. The lockpicking took longer than anticipated, so Jim crouched beside her and flicked on the solar lighter, careful not to illuminate it too much, but enough for her to see. Kate’s eyes flicked up, almost in a glare, but she promptly returned her attention to the lock. When Jim looked back, Gerard stood in front of them like a sentient barricade.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The lock finally clicked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kate cracked the door open and slid in. She held the door barely open for Jim and Gerard to follow, then she eased it shut behind them, mindful to lock it again. Jim held up the lighter,  searching for some means of a chain lock, but he saw Gerard’s silhouette lurch to a large table and effortlessly scoop up two chairs. The lumbering teenager set them against the door, and in the dim glow of the lighter, grinned down at Jim.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A beam of starlight poured in through lofty, gothic windows and spilled across the velveteen carpet, bouncing off glass cases that held centuries' worth of written relics. Some of these relics were familiar, most of them were pieces of literature from across several intergalactic cultures, throughout a multitude of eras. Jim’s eyes temporarily wavered over a display that held a horde of documents, all littered with notes about a slim, black metal piece engraved with illegible text characters. Of course, it was a document from the linguistics department, a dead language piece, one not properly translated just yet.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Upon further scrutiny, the rows between the endless collection of bookshelves contained some amount of darkness, enough to obstruct anyone outside from seeing them in motion. Jim gestured for Kate to push ahead, and Gerard to stand back, patiently waiting for Jim’s next move. Shortly after, they followed behind Kate, as she instinctively charted her way through the bookshelf maze towards an inconspicuous spiral staircase. She got up a step before she spun to face the two behind her.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The bell’s in the north tower, the fifth floor, it takes a little longer to take these stairs up, but it might be our best bet,” she whispered. She looked down at the dull solar lighter in Jim’s hand, then back at him as she asked, “Wanna lead?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jim didn’t take the time to respond, instead, he continued ahead when she let him pass through. Both Kate and Gerard followed close behind by a step or two, as they ascended two flights, slowly, in hopes that the aged metal wouldn’t creak under their combined weight. They advanced closer to the third floor, mere seconds from the floor’s door, it shouldn’t have been a problem to make it to the fifth floor, especially with the fourth door looming in sight.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Then, the fourth level’s door rattled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jim’s free hand gripped the railing, as the other switched off the lighter. The lack of muddled footsteps behind him indicated he wasn’t the only one to hear it. In the corner of his eye, Gerard inched the third floor door open, and a hand snatched for Jim’s arm to guide him to that there. His body quickly responded and scurried beside Kate to the exit. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The door above shattered, sounding as if it’d been ripped from its latches.  Before the door quietly shut behind the teenagers, a pair of lumbering footsteps pounded from the end of the hallway.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jim returned the lighter to his pocket as a rush of adrenaline coursed through his body, the clarification he needed that they were beyond being confined to the shadows.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A looming form begrudgingly dragged itself to the end of the hallway, completely obscured of any identification by its large overcoat grunting with each strenuous step. Almost on command, the door behind the cornered group violently shook enough that whoever was there seemed to almost tear the door down in one go.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Gerard braced himself, and Kate held up a fist as her other hand reached into her pocket and drew a knife. Jim held up the lighter again, his only mechanism of any defense, as the door trembled harder and the lumbering figure on the other side charged forward. Then, </span>
  <span>Gerard swung a punch, Kate took a jab with her knife, and Jim turned towards the door upon it breaking open, flicking the lighter on as bright as it could go. A sudden yelp erupted from the cloaked figure at the door as Jim took a swing at the disoriented being, to send it tumbling down a flight of stairs. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Before Jim could piece together anything, before he could ask Kate or Gerard if they were okay, Kate incoherently shouted out as she swung a punch at the other offender. Gerard instantly took over, using every ounce of force he could to hold the assailant back, which allowed  Kate to look at Jim directly with the blatant concoction of concern and shock plastered on her face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Go!”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jim didn’t bother to ask any further, she was right. He darted for the door, nearly tripping on the first few steps, completely caught in the dizzying feeling of his heart pounding against his ribs, the tingling that rose in his cheeks, it all went by with little thought. He clambered up the rest of the stairs, stealth a total disregard at this point. There was no more hiding.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He made it to the fifth floor. He could barely hold onto the door handle, but he managed to grasp it enough to push down harder than he needed and he tumbled to the floor on the other side. He shot to his feet, caught only by a nearby wall, and sprinted down the hall. He hardly caught his breath, it felt like he was suffocating, but it didn’t matter now. Gerard, Kate, they were completely alone down there, they needed him right now more than anything.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jim skidded across the floor as his panicked gaze landed on the bell. He picked himself up, it was just there, only a few paces, and the campus would know. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Everyone would hear. He </span>
  <em>
    <span>just</span>
  </em>
  <span> had to sound it off.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A large, muscular arm wrapped itself around Jim’s neck. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He kicked back. Maybe he could land a soft spot. The less each desperate kick worked, he tilted his head down and sunk his teeth into grimy flesh. The hand loosened its grip and he dropped onto the floor. Jim scrambled down there, then launched himself up.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His hand got so close that he grazed the rope with his fingertips, but he felt something pinch him in the shoulder. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Jim shot up, suppressing a sudden scream at the sensation as it stung into his upper back, but then, that hand that was just about to grab hold felt like a deadweight. He clambered to grab the rope again, but he saw in double, unable to determine which of the multiplying ropes in front of him was tangible. He dropped to his knees, finally with the rope in hand, yet as he tried to pull it back, he couldn’t get it far back enough. He yanked it harder, harder again, with whatever strength he could muster, until the rope fell from his hands.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His vision tunneled. That bell lost its luminous shine, the darkness pooled like inky water, and ultimately he felt nothing as he hit the floor.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>